Comments on: Why the term ‘mummy bloggers’ should be banished

By: Sexton rod

Sexton rod — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 20:46:42 +0000

Is Jane Caro a mummy? - if so, then she is a mummy-blogger.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 06:29:10 +0000

ZAC: I admire your passion-I thought the article to be tripe as well. However, purlese, ‘penis-envy’ is A) A fallacy. B) So terribly 1960s.

By: zac48

zac48 — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 01:23:22 +0000

What outrageous sexist rubbish….”otherwise [dumb] men might actually believe it.” They’re so dumb they think they might catch “girl germs”, an American expression adopted by arrogantly self-appreciating child rearers, (mothers) in Australia. “Their penises might fall off!” A Freudian slip if I’ve ever heard one. Jane, a shrink can explain to you what ‘penis envy’ is. “girl germs”? an expression I’ve only ever heard used on the ‘Simpsons’ which is, in it’s own right a specifically sexist, socially conditioning cartoon of great influence. The image pushed, and men are reflected as, the stupid, emotionally stunted, drunk Homer. Anti-social, juvenile delinquent and potentially drug addicted Bart. Then there’s the very antithesis and opposite. The emotionally generous, all suffering and caring family loving Marj. And of course Lisa is a socially aware, intellectually advanced ‘liberated’ girl who is going to be the President of the U.S. one day. This microcosm of society reflects all the male characters in a negative light and all the females in a disadvantaged and positive light. These relationships are what the “liberated female” in our society generally identifies with mothers teaching their daughters, growing up at their knee, the same doctrine of sexual discrimination against men…Let’s completely disassociate ourselves from those dumb, unevolved men…. The ‘subjective group’ of women naive enough to identify with and be used by the great misandrist, Julia Gillard, thrive on this sort of sexism. Your a perfect example Jane Caro. This article about “mummy bloggers” runs much deeper than your throw away DISCLAIMER, and your self-righteous comments are just another example of a sex going through an identity crisis which is expressed by sexual discrimination toward men….Up the sisterhood. Go girl… Just pathetic.

By: Tom Jones

Tom Jones — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 14:24:22 +0000

There are those who would still argue that when they speak of mankind they also mean women who are wrapped up in the deal. As for Mummy bloggers why not just refer to them as women if the gender is important to know prior to reading a blog ( and I concede it might be as I would appreciate a warning when I am about to read a blog by an immature, ignorant male or narcissistic blogger.) Unfortunately the word Mummy has a lot of negative connotations because of the love of the English upper classes to use this word long into adulthood.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 07:03:39 +0000

ZUT:(15) Ho ho ho ho….very clever. i wish I’d thought of it!

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 06:57:41 +0000

SHANIQ’UA SHARDONN’AY: Love your comment, (24).

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 06:54:53 +0000

MATTHEW McKENZIE: Good one. Therefore a granny blogger might be ‘Mother of a primary care giver to sons and daughters of internet writer’. Whereas a daughter of an internet writer might be, ‘Daughter of primary care giver to sons and daughters of internet writer’. aka Mum.

PEOPLE WRITING IN FAVOUR OF MOMMIE should be shot. It’s an American word and sounds revolting.

By: dylan edwards

dylan edwards — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 20:34:33 +0000

I once heard a child call one of their parents ‘mummy’. Don’t worry I set her straight, the child agreed to call both of her parents ‘gender non specific caregiver’.

By: Monash.edu

Monash.edu — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:18:45 +0000

Man, I think I’ve found something more irritating than straw-person argumentation: straw-person ‘satire’.

By: Monash.edu

Monash.edu — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:08:32 +0000

“Which is really weird because, as we all know, women have no sense of humour.”

Many do, but I’m afraid Jane isn’t amongst them.

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.

By: floorer

floorer — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 11:27:01 +0000

Disproportionate, what these responses are (largely) to this fairly light article.

By: Shaniq'ua Shardonn'ay

Shaniq'ua Shardonn'ay — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:29:38 +0000

The fact that this article was first published in “Women’s Agenda” which from which we have articles such as “Gift Guide: Finishing Christmas shopping during your lunch break” !!! and “How to manage 5500 people and still have a life” is significant in itself. Maybe when it’s published in a news site that is described in non-gender specific manner I might bother taking it seriously, JC.
Pot, Kettle, black.

By: Shaniq'ua Shardonn'ay

Shaniq'ua Shardonn'ay — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:01:17 +0000

@Dianne Longson - the dashes in the words p-nis etc is so that email versions of the article can get around spam filters. Nothing to do with PC.

By: Holden Back

Holden Back — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:23:08 +0000

‘Daddy’ blogger more than likely NSFW.

By: Hamis Hill

Hamis Hill — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:57:11 +0000

Famous agricultural scientist turned economist John Kenneth Galbraith in his book “Economics and The Public Purpose” described those who stay at home and run the household, generally women and mothers, as “The unpaid managers of consumption” without whose financially unrewarded efforts the entire economy of production would collapse.
Galbraith argued that if the household bound managers of consumption were infact paid for their efforts then beneficial labour saving devices and services would emerge to reduce these costs.
As it presently stands the unpaid “managers of consumption” have no incentive to raise their productivity by reducing the amount of time earning their “management of consumption” financial rewards simply because there are no payments for their labour.( John Lennon observed that, with regard to this effective “slavery”; “Women are the Ni — ggers of the World”)
So good luck to “Mummy Bloggers” for seeking rewards for their efforts, which otherwise are sent unproductively wandering about shopping malls drinking coffee and window shopping as a way to fill in the time.
Long past time for Galbraith’s unpaid managers of consumption to join the paid work force even if they have to employ themselves.
This seems to be an economic and social justice issue considering that many households do not infact have a young mummy in residence yet their comsumption still has to be managed.

By: CML

CML — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:43:27 +0000

@ Dianne - If you don’t put the hyphen in these and other words, the moderator strikes. Mind you, it strikes for no reason at all sometimes on Crikey!
You also beat me to it on the spelling of Mummy. Mommy? Only in America!!
Aside from that - Jane you write what you want to write in your articles, blogs etc. For heaven’s sake leave these women to do likewise. These blogs don’t interest me, so do what I do, and don’t read them if they upset your feminist tendencies. The whole blo+dy country is full of experts with opinions on what people should write, read, see and hear. Live and let live, I say.

By: Dianne Longson

Dianne Longson — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 10:11:16 +0000

I love this piece and its satirical view of the discriminatory, sexist, misogynistic references to “mummy bloggers”. However I need to ask why words like “penis” and “sexist” are included as they are: p-nis & s-xist. Is there a PC problem with these words of which I am blissfully unaware? Can anyone explain?
And a word to Goodrich re the spelling of mummy, as in child care-giver; it is only mommy if you come from America. If you speak English English, as opposed to American English, the word is Mummy!

By: Sprague Brett

Sprague Brett — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:19:49 +0000

*yawn* A complete beat-up so Caro can have another rant and assert her feminist credentials. First, I have watched the phenomenon, like many others, for many years. The greatest contempt toward the so called “Mummy Bloggers” always came from hipster female types. It always seemed obvious that they were grossly offended that women would not only blog about what interested them (and what not often interested men) or put their “Mummy” slant on interests common to both sexes but that they could make money doing it. This offence did also seem to be 90% jealousy because the hipster bloggers were starving bloggers getting far fewer clicks/views etc.
Second, to link this phenomenon to Mysogyny just because there are spaces in social media designed by women, for women, containing stuff often not interesting to men is hardly women-hating behaviour. I can bet hardly any men are upset these “Mommy Bloggers” are successful- no hate at all- just little interest and that is by design - the blogger’s design!

By: puddleduck

puddleduck — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 07:56:53 +0000

Mummy bloggers. The ultimate cash for comment strategy of multinationals trying to get product X into your and my home.

I used to read a mummy blog. It was a wee bit nauseating (north shore trials… you know the drill), but I persevered. Until said mummy blogger didn’t publish a comment I made querying the integrity of the product/service puffed by one of her posts.

With various family issues of my own (that don’t include project managing a renovation, but rather, helping elderly parents as their lives disintegrate), I haven’t had time or energy to write to ask on what terms said MB agrees to receive cash for positive comment. But I’m not reading rhapsodies about any product where those terms seem to include not allowing any negative (but truthful) comments.

By: Phen

Phen — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 07:45:49 +0000

I’ve even heard of journalists who write about sport being described as “Sports journalists”. I don’t know how these vicious labellers ever sleep at night.

By: zut alors

zut alors — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 07:23:01 +0000

Venise, a grandfather blogger would be termed a wise elder.

By: Patriot

Patriot — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:31:07 +0000

Utterly daft coming from someone who is regularly published on Women's Agenda. Charity begins at home. Would be nice if loony left outrage could begin there too.

By: Salamander

Salamander — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:14:16 +0000

Daddy bloggers?

By: Matthew McKenzie

Matthew McKenzie — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 05:42:20 +0000

So you are suggesting we should label such bloggers in a non gender specific term such as “primary care giver to sons and daughters internet writer”?

How is it misogynistic to label a mother as a mother. After all, mother, (or mummy or mommy or mum) is a gender specific term in itself. There is nothing sexist about that. I’d have thought that should be a much respected role in our society. If a woman wishes to write about her role as mother to her children in blog form, what might be wrong with labeling it as such?

If there are reasons for that being sexist, then I’m afraid you’ve failed to list any in this unfortunately unfunny piece.

By: Mike Smith

Mike Smith — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 05:37:36 +0000

@Holden: Indeed, a mummy could be regarded as a zombie wearing its sunday best. I’m not sure whether if they went to church they would believe in transubstantiation.